Hempfield East scored twice in the seventh inning to capture the District 31 title.

GREENSBURG - Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the outlook appeared bleak for homestanding Hempfield East Post 981 on Tuesday. Unity pitcher Tyler Kuhns, who had been nearly unhittable for most of the evening, promptly retired the first two batters in the frame, putting Hempfield East down to its final out.

From there, however, three straight batters produced hits, all coming with two strikes, to tie the contest. DaJauhn Hertzog then delivered the winning hit to give No. 2 seed Hempfield East a thrilling, 3-2 walk-off victory against the Unity Bulldogs to capture the District 31 American Legion Championship at Hempfield Area High School.

The triumph marks the third District 31 title in team history for Hempfield East and the first during the tenure of manager Harry Shamberger.

“Certainly, this is a shot in the arm going into the regional tournament,” Shamberger said of the championship, the first for the squad since 2012.

Unlike previous championships that were determined in nine innings, this game followed the traditional seven inning format.

Prior to the final inning, the offenses were mostly stifled by Kuhns and Hempfield East starter Matt Wicker. Kuhns allowed just three hits through the first six frames, while Wicker surrendered only two hits.

Unity got to Wicker in the top of the seventh, however, to break a 1-1 deadlock. Connor Mondock lead off with a double to center field, and moved to third on a groundout by Kuhns. Preston Boerio then delivered an RBI double to put the Bulldogs ahead. Shane Stuchell relieved Wicker, and after intentionally walking Cole Novak, he retired the final two batters to keep the Hempfield East deficit at just one run.

With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Reno Brasili kept the game going with a single to right that was just out of the reach of Bulldogs’ second baseman Andy Bradford. Next, pinch hitter Noah Sweeney also singled to right field, aided by Bradford playing near the second-base bag. With runners at the corners, Andrew Rosenberg struck a ball to right-center field, and Unity’s Clark Harr seemingly made the catch momentarily, but the ball popped out and fell to the grass, allowing pinch runner Lance Daley to score the tying run and Sweeney to reach third. Hertzog then ended the contest with an infield single to shortstop, plating Sweeney to give Hempfield East the dramatic victory.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow, to come that close to our third championship,” noted Unity manager Ed Guzik, who also guided the Bulldogs to District 31 titles in 2013 and 2014.

Although Stuchell received the win, Wicker’s performance through 6 1/3 innings was one of the biggest reasons in the victory for the home squad. Of particular importance, the hurler limited Unity to just one run in the first inning, during which he struggled with his command, in part because of a lengthy delay to repair the pitchers’ mound. Wicker walked the first two batters of the game, Mondock and Kuhns, and also issued a one-out walk to Novak to load the bases. Although Tate O’Barto’s single scored a run, Wicker stranded the bases loaded as a result of a fielders’ choice and a strikeout.

Shamberger stressed that allowing just one run in that scenario was crucial in the outcome, and he credited Wicker for rebounding after the rough start.

“That could’ve been way worse. The floodgates could’ve opened in the first inning,” he said. “He took a little while to settle in, but once he did, he found his spots and the rest took care of itself.”

Hempfield East first found success against Kuhns in the bottom of the fourth, sparked by Hertzog. The Greensburg Salem product opened with a single to right-center, advanced to second when Isaiah DiAndreth was hit by a pitch, and then moved to third on a fielders’ choice by Nick DiAndreth. With two-out, Christian Zilli hit a ball up the middle, and although Bradford got a glove on it, he was unable to cleanly corral it, allowing Hertzog to score the tying run.

Rosenberg and Hertzog each had a pair of hits in the victory for Hempfield East, while O’Barto was the only Unity player with a multi-hit effort.

Kuhns, meanwhile, was the tough-luck loser, despite allowing just seven hits in a complete game effort.

“The way Tyler was pitching, I didn’t think the outcome was going to be what it was,” Guzik said. “He was the reason we were where we were at.”

Both teams return to action on Friday, when they compete in the first round of the Region 7 Tournament, which will also be held at Hempfield Area High School.

Bushy Run is the third team out of District 31 that earned a spot in the Region 7 Tournament after defeating Latrobe Tuesday 5-4 in the consolation game at Greater Latrobe High School. The Jethawks trailed 5-2 after five innings but scored twice in the sixth to trim the lead to 5-4 but would get no closer. Bushy Run won last year's District 31 title.